Compass Faces Lawsuit From New York Renters as Congressional Scrutiny Mounts

As Congressional scrutiny on Compass Inc. mounts, two New York City renters have filed a lawsuit accusing the brokerage giant of monopolizing the city's rental market and driving up rents.Plaintiffs Peter Castaneda and Haley Gelfand say that Compass, the world's largest residential real estate broker, seeks to monopolize the market for rental units in the region after the brokerage reportedly called on its agents to remove their rental listings from Zillow-owned StreetEasy.With its acquisitions of Anywhere Real Estate, Century21, Coldwell Banker, Sotheby's International, and other affiliated names, Compass now controls 80% of the rental unit listings in New York, according to industry estimates cited in the complaint.The complaint alleges Compass is using that market power to "intentionally cause an existential surge in the price of rental unit-specific apartments," according to the complaint, which cited declining inventory and rising rental prices in the city.This comes as Congress seeks to probe whether Compass is engaging in anticompetitive practices related to its "Private Exclusives" real estate listings, which are only available online to Compass clients. Realtor.com® first ...